How two Welsh politicians responded to crises in their careers

Mark Thomas

The familiar saying “All men are flawed” serves as a reminder that nobody is perfect. Every human has their own imperfections, weaknesses, and areas where they fall short. We all make errors, face limitations, and encounter both success and failure in life.

No group is more prone to falling foul of this phrase than our politicians. In a 24/7 news reporting cycle their words and actions face relentless scrutiny. In recent years Wales has seen two Senedd representatives face their own falls from grace. The circumstances involved were very different and both paid a heavy price.

It’s not the aim of this article to go into the detailed circumstances of their failures – they have been well documented. Rather this article looks at the question of redemption. How these politicians have endeavoured to respond to a major crisis in their working and no doubt private lives. This is a story about character.

Born in Zambia to Welsh and Zambian parents, Vaughan Gething was brought up briefly in Wales but moved to England due to the family being subjected to racism. He studied at Aberystwyth University and Cardiff University Law School.

He was elected to the Senedd to represent Cardiff South and Penarth in 2011, holding several ministerial posts before becoming Welsh Labour leader and First Minister in 2024.

But his tenure was brief, marred by controversy involving donations totalling £200,000 from a company owned by a man convicted of environmental offences.

After months of pressure, he was forced to resign in July 2024.

Rhys ab Owen comes from a well-known political family background. His late father was Owen John Thomas, a prominent and widely respected Plaid Cymru politician. He read law at Oxford University, completed his Bar exams in Cardiff and practised as a barrister specialising in employment and public law. He was elected to the Senedd in 2021.

In 8 November 2022, he was suspended from Plaid Cymru, pending an investigation by the Senedd’s standards watchdog. In March 2024, the Standards of Conduct Committee recommended that he be suspended from the Senedd for 42 sitting days after finding that he had “inappropriately touched” a woman on a night out and twice called her a “bitch”. In July 2024 he was expelled from Plaid Cymru, continuing to sit as an Independent MS until the end of the Senedd term.

It’s not the aim of this article to diminish in any way the impact on any individuals involved in the above incidents or absolve the conduct of either MS. Both have been subject to enormous public scrutiny and investigation, and both have paid a heavy price.

Rather I want to focus on how the two members have responded to career changing events. As a lead campaigner for the Welsh Cladiators, I do this while declaring a vested interest.

Building safety crisis

As long-suffering victims of the Welsh fire cladding and building safety crisis, we have appealed to both MSs as our defective Cardiff Bay homes are located in their constituencies. The responses we have received over many years – including at the height of their huge career challenges- have been incredibly different.

While one of the MSs provided – as one distressed resident put it – “every kind of assistance short of help!” – the other has been a tireless and relentless source of advocacy and support, that culminated in a recent major reversal in government policy.

It was in late 2019 when some of our members started to realise the severity of the impact that the Grenfell Tragedy would have on many Welsh high-rise development residents in Cardiff Bay and later in the Swansea Maritime area.

The horrors of Grenfell exposed a long litany of systemic failures in building construction, investigations and approval regimes and indeed successive government policy in both Wales and England. When coupled with a totally inadequate legal code that initially enabled responsible developers to escape any sense of accountability, it was apparent that political intervention was desperately needed. It was at this point that we contacted both Vaughan Gething and Rhys ab Owen.

Warning signs

In hindsight the warning signs for Vaughan Gething came very early. It was in 2020 that we had our first Teams call with him. At the outset of the Covid crisis, we knew finding time with him – by then he was Health Minister – would be extremely difficult. Our first remote call started with Vaughan Gething joining late and immediately announcing that he could only spare around 20 minutes or so. He let the local MP Stephen Doughty respond to most of our comments on the emerging crisis. Throughout his short participation he was constantly looking at his mobile. Then he was gone. No doubt he had many meetings to attend that day.

Our immediate reaction was one of understanding. Here was a man dealing with a once in a lifetime global pandemic that was going to wreak havoc on all our lives and the economy. As the crisis grew, we soon decided to leave Vaughan alone – he was too busy dealing with bigger issues than our much smaller building safety crisis.

We had the mistaken belief that a time would come when Vaughan Gething would fully engage and represent us, but that time would never come. We hoped that when he relinquished his role as Health Minister in late 2021 and became Economy Minister, he would at last get behind us. But the brutal reality was Vaughan Gething never delivered. The only real sign of support we saw was the distribution of anodyne letters he would write to or pass on from his Housing Minister colleague Julie James.

On 16 November 2022 he turned up in the Senedd to cast a vote against us obtaining the same protective laws that fellow English victims had earlier been given. It was an extraordinary thing to do. Given the choice of supporting his hard-pressed constituents or toeing the Welsh Labour party line, Vaughan decided to back his party.

Abandoned

It’s difficult to describe the feelings that arise when you are left totally abandoned by the very people who are paid to represent you. The weight of a betrayal in trust is very heavy. It was amplified by large and powerful corporate forces continuing to ignore us despite having inflicted huge and in some cases life changing harm. All we ever wanted was some political support and advocacy.

In contrast, even before his personal and political crisis Rhys ab Owen showed up to support Cardiff Bay and indeed wider Welsh fire cladding victims. He persistently argued for social justice to be served. He continually highlighting our desperate plight and the need for developers to be held to account.

He submitted countless verbal and written questions to the then Housing Minister Julie James. He echoed our appeals for urgent action and the need for legislation and sanctions to be applied to responsible developers.

Rhys attended many of our public protests and gave media interviews that highlighted the proximity of the Senedd to the dozens of fire defective buildings across Cardiff Bay. In stark contrast to Vaughan Gething, Rhys was always available to discuss issues and challenges involving individual developments – a position that he maintained throughout his own political trials and tribulations.

On 3 March this year, a set of major building safety law amendments were tabled by Rhys ab Owen in the Senedd. The proposed laws were the same that Vaughan and his Welsh Labour colleagues had voted down in 2022. The amendments long campaigned for by Welsh victims were thankfully passed.

It’s reported that Vaughan Gething was not in attendance at the Senedd to participate in the debate and see the laws passed.

Relentless

In contrast Rhys ab Owen has been relentless in his public support and advocacy for a whole range of impacted developments. He has visited and listened to many victims to learn of the gravity of the mental and financial challenges they face. He’s devoted a huge amount of energy and time to lobby the Welsh Labour Government culminating in it reversing its policy on allowing Welsh victims to benefit from English laws.

Unlike the missing in action Vaughan Gething, Rhys has shown himself to be readily available to offer advice, support and crucially to challenge those in power. He’s widely respected and admired for championing a cause that seems to have all too often generated indifference from the Welsh Labour Government.

Ahead of the May election it’s clear that Vaughan Gething is moving on to fresh pastures. “Ambitious,” was a commonly used attribute surrounding his meteoric political rise and fall. There are again rumours that he may again be in line for a seat in the House of Lords. To his much-ignored buildings safety constituents and distressed Welsh Covid victim campaigners any elevation to the House of Lords would be a huge insult and make a mockery of the concept of democratic representation in Wales. Previously, Welsh Covid campaigners wrote to the House of Lords to register their concerns about any seat being awarded.

Others anticipate Vaughan Gething will secure a big executive role in the private sector or with some major Welsh NGO or lobbying organisation – a common route for many former high level Welsh politicians.

Character

For many fire cladding victims Rhys ab Owen has shown himself to be a man of character. He could have easily walked away or served out his time by simply punching the Senedd clock. Instead, he has been a whirlwind of proactive and successful campaigning. He is clearly an intelligent man with incredible energy and an obvious passion and sense for social justice.

If you had to ask many engaged Welsh cladding victims who they’d want to see back in the Senedd it would be Rhys ab Owen, a man who showed you can come back from incredibly tough and challenging times – no easy attribute for any politician – and demonstrate that you can rebuild trust and ultimately redeem yourself.